AR06 - rideout etiquette

Originally Posted by stu369

I think a lot of the dodgy overtakes were because no one was willing to leave a safe gap in front of themselve to allow people to pull in.

If there isn't a safe gap to pull into then then don't ****ing overtake

Originally Posted by stu369

It was as if they had got that far to the front and they weren't going to let anyone push them back.

As Fizz says, it was a rideout not a race and I know that he was particularly angry at the stop at Clee Hill when someone had carved him up. Worse still was that he had a pillion at the time.

If you felt the need to be at the front and got there by carving others up then you are one of those who seriously need to take along, hard look at the way you ride in group, particularly when you're not used to riding with those around you.

I'm not having a go at you personally, as I don't think you were one of those who carved me up.

I had a few times when I was overtaken on right hand bends which I wasn't too happy about. I rarely overtook other bikes (slow and steady me) but when I did it was on straights with plenty of room for me to get back in in front of them (as I see it as being up to me to make sure there is room to get back in before I start the overtake). I also don't over take anything on solid whites I feel they are generally there for a reason.

Generally I tried to move over if I could.

There weren't many incidents (for me) and they didn't spoil an otherwise great day.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by stu369

I think a lot of the dodgy overtakes were because no one was willing to leave a safe gap in front of themselve to allow people to pull in. It was as if they had got that far to the front and they weren't going to let anyone push them back.

Like I said to you on Saturday night. I left the gap there so if the bike in front of me stopped I had room to stop without walloping the back of them. The gap isnt there for somebody to overtake me at nearly 3 figure speed and then shove in in front of me 3 bikes behind the front of the only rider who actually knows where they are going.

If theres no gap to pull back into once you have completed your overtake don't overtake.

If you want to race go and do a track day.

people seem to like diceing with on coming cars personly i think they would hurt if you hit one i did a few over takings but would like to think they were safe, i usually only go quickly on the nice twisty lanes(cuz i love the bends ) and anyway whats the rush?

[Viney]

didnt we have this last year???

Its always gonna happen in large groups. Everyone wants to show off.

But Scoobs put it simply enough.

Originally Posted by Jabba-the-Hutt

Sorry about this, and maybe I'm being a bit of a wuss

No, you are absolutely right. Best annual ride-out yet, but also more idiots than I've seen before, one of which I had a word with but it made no difference whatsoever. Next year we shall make it far clearer that it's not a road race and if there are persistent offenders they should be asked to leave and go home.

The priority should be a smooth, safe, flow of bikes getting to point B unscathed. Although I know not everyone holds this point of view, if we scaled down the overall pace by 10% I feel this would be advantageous, as there were plenty of folk that seemed to feel the need to catch up with the bike in front, even though they would never have been left behind because of the excellent marker system we had in place.

Personally I'm glad this has been voiced in public, as a little adult discussion on the matter might help any "offenders" get the picture.


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Maybe the problem lies more in the fact that an event such as the AR06 is a celebration and getting together of like minded people to enjoy both a pleasant ride and good company.

The mind set should be a lot different than your usual weekend blat with a few mates on roads you know etc.

Originally Posted by jonboy

The priority should be a smooth, safe, flow of bikes getting to point B unscathed.

That's my main concern - one "off", even a single bike/rider far from home, would have been a major inconvenience for others as well as the rider involved and spoiled the day for everyone else.

Thankfully, this didn't happen but I thought it bad that the standard of riding was a main topic of conversation at the breaks. This wasn't the case last year.

Originally Posted by Viney

didnt we have this last year???

Its always gonna happen in large groups. Everyone wants to show off.

But Scoobs put it simply enough.

Agreed. With that many bikes on the ride it's always going to happen. This year there were, as far as I am aware, only two repeat offenders. Now out of nearly 70 bikes I would say that was a good result.

I would suggest that the others that were seen were nothing more than a lack of correct judgement on their part at the time of the incident. Something that happens, especially when riding with so many other bikes.

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Jabba-the-Hutt

...I thought it bad that the standard of riding was a main topic of conversation at the breaks...

Possibly, but then again in the main only a very few names were mentioned, as such it's likely, I think, that we're getting it out of proportion. This is not to suggest that it didn't happen, or even to talk it down, but it was a very very small fraction of the riders involved. I'm sure of this as I passed through the ride several times and could clearly observe that most riders preserved adquate distances and practised aware and considerate riding, I had no significant problems on most of those occasions, noting only that some people don't look in their mirrors as much as I think should be expected.

I think we ought to make this clear - most participants, by an enormous margin, rode in a manner that gave no-one else cause for complaint. I wouldn't like to think that this discussion would turn anyone away from participating in future events, it simply wasn't a worry for most riders at all, and for the rest not for most of the time - I'm sure about this.